Enjoyable Recreational Breaks
by digitalPenNibs
Summary: Because Miranda and puppy piles are so important.


A/N: Something cute and silly I quickly wrote up for someone on tumblr. :)

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It all started when Shepard told her she was working too hard.

It wasn't true, of course; she was simply attending to her duties. Monitoring the mission. Filing reports. Assessing the progress they were making. All of them her duties. She should have never told Shepard that the reason her workload had increased so drastically was due to all the recent personal quests she had been tending to for her squad members. Not to mention all the accidental assignments they had picked up along the way due to Shepard's compulsion for scanning every planet and system they came across. So really, it was all Shepard's fault. She should have never said so, however, because now the Commander had taken it upon herself to find the Cerberus Officer "an enjoyable recreational break". Miranda simply wished Shepard would leave her to her reports.

Unfortunately she didn't. And that's how she found herself in a colony Shepard had picked out.

She had burst into her Office with the familiar glint in her eyes that Miranda had started to associate with mayhem. And destruction. And death. In fact, she really wasn't sure how she had convinced her to accompany her to the colony they were currently docked in.

Miranda felt her feet reluctantly move as Shepard dragged her towards the nearest building by the hand. There were so many reports she could be filing right now. She wondered if she could get away with knocking Shepard out and carrying her back to the Normandy before she came to.

"Come on, Miranda. You're going to love this, you'll see."

Probably not.

They entered the building through the double doors and Shepard lost no time in ringing the reception bell. A young secretary with a toothy smile looked up at them.

"Hello. I'm Susan Shepard? I booked a..." She paused for effect, sneaking a look back at Miranda. "...secret event for this afternoon?" She winked at the younger woman, who giggled in response. Miranda narrowed her eyes.

As Shepard talked to the receptionist, Miranda looked around. She couldn't find any clues to tell her what kind of place this was. There had been no sign at the front of the building and the waiting room they currently found themselves in just looked like any generic reception. Just what had Shepard in mind?

"Aha! Thank you very much, Miss." Shepard's voice was a particular brand of annoying at that moment. Miranda grumbled and glared at Shepard's back as she led them through the building and into another room.

It was an empty room. It had a few chairs stacked against the wall, and a couple of sofas. There was the door they came from behind them. In front of them were large sliding doors that reached from the floor all the way to the ceiling. They were open and a cool breeze played with the curtains to either side of the doors. The floor was wooden, one of the panels creaking slightly as they put weight on it.

Miranda sighed in frustration. "Shepard, why are we here?"

Shepard simply smiled softly at her. With no warning, she swung an arm underneath Miranda's legs and lifted her up. She dropped to the floor, taking Miranda down with her and breaking her fall with her lap.

"NOW," Shepard yelled.

Shepard felt the crackling of biotics building up in the body she was cradling on the floor. Miranda had registered what had happened and was pissed. Before she could knock Shepard on her ass, Miranda jumped at the approaching sound. Through the open doors, a barrage of bumbling balls of fur raced towards them.

Puppies.

There had to be over a dozen of them. They weren't particularly big, but they were approaching fast. Before Miranda could sit up they were on them. Miranda felt herself being completely enveloped by the horde. They were everywhere. Licking her hands, nipping and tugging at her clothes and hair. One particularly daring one had climbed up onto her torso and was licking at her face.

Miranda was completely overwhelmed. Before she knew what was happening, she felt laughter bubbling out of her. She tried to sit up but the fluffy bundles travelling across her body kept her in place. She wasn't normally ticklish, but having all those little feet on her and having bundles of hair at her nape being pulled left her sensitive. She was a giggling mess on the floor, jerking every so often in the midst of her laughter.

Eventually Shepard took pity on her and moved the puppies from her body to the floor. She assisted her into a sitting position, laughing all the way. Miranda looked at Shepard as she helped her up. She was still laughing as Shepard tenderly brushed the tousled hair from her eyes. Their gazes met and the two leaned forward for a kiss. It was clumsy, the two smiling into it and giggling from time to time as they felt the dogs swarm around them.

As they pulled away, Shepard gave her comically smouldering bedroom eyes. "You know, I used my special Spectre privileges to organise this." Miranda burst out laughing again.

Shepard rested her forehead against hers, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the proximity. Miranda sighed as she closed her own.

"Well, it would be a waste to not make use of these privileges."

The two spent a while with the young pups. They came in all variations of cream and golden, their fur soft. Miranda's fingers nearly disappeared into the fluff as she picked them up. They leaned into the caresses, their tiny tails wagging wildly at the attention. A few fell to exhaustion after a while, draping themselves over limbs as they succumbed to sleep. Miranda herself leaned into Shepard as the puppies around them became more subdued.

Shepard bit her lip. "So... does this mean we can keep one?"

Miranda sighed.


End file.
